1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an imaging device and method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Conventional devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers frequently comprise one or more cameras. These cameras are generally used for taking photographs or for making video calls.
One issue with video calls is that often neither user will appear to be looking at the other. This is because in order to appear to be looking at the other party, a user must look at the camera rather than at the screen where the other party is being displayed on-screen. Generally, most users will either just look at the display, or alternate between display and camera. Neither is a very satisfactory approach and results in an unnatural appearance or behaviour of the user.
One way to mitigate this effect is to display the user's own image in a small window on the display, so that they become aware of their appearance and can adapt it if they wish.
Another approach is to position video cameras on either side of the display; in this case when the user looks at the display, an interpolated image of the user may be generated from both images to produce an image in which the user appears to be facing a virtual camera positioned centrally within the display. However, this is relatively wasteful of computing resources and hence battery life, and also requires a second camera that is used potentially only for this purpose, which adds cost.
Hence it is still desirable to provide a means to mitigate this effect.